The Guadalajara Reporter

US citizen murdered in break-in at Vallarta home

A US citizen was killed in an apparent robbery at his home in Puerto Vallarta on Saturday.

John Dickmeyer, 65, a real estate agent from California, was found lifeless, gagged and bound in his home at Arboledas 2, in Vallarta’s Bobadilla neighborhood.

Dickmeyer’s maid, Maria Antonia Villaseñor Garcia, 41, was also tied up by at least two men who entered at around 3.40 p.m. under the pretext of inquiring about a property that Dickmeyer was renting. The assailants left Villaseñor tied in the kitchen, while Dickmeyer was left lying on the bedroom floor with his hands and feet bound behind his back and masking tape over his mouth.

Once the intruders had left, Villaseñor managed to free herself and alerted the police immediately after finding her unresponsive employer in the bedroom. The emergency services arrived at 6.15 p.m. and pronounced Dickmeyer dead at the scene. Forensic experts took charge of the body, while Villaseñor was treated by Red Cross paramedics after suffering a nervous breakdown.

The authorities did not disclose the cause of death, but said they discovered a knife and a roll of tape inside the home. They also revealed that the property had been ransacked, suggesting that robbery was the motive for the crime.

Dickmeyer worked in real estate in the United States and Vallarta and owned many of the La Palapa beachfront condos in the Pacific resort, according to NoticiasPV.com.